There is something intriguing about lying and why people do it. Most times it is done strategically, to cover up an embarrassing or damaging experience. Occasionally it is done to protect someone else who is vulnerable (the "little white lie"). But then there are the serial lies, told by people who are so used to doing it that they don't…
There is something intriguing about lying and why people do it. Most times it is done strategically, to cover up an embarrassing or damaging experience. Occasionally it is done to protect someone else who is vulnerable (the "little white lie"). But then there are the serial lies, told by people who are so used to doing it that they don't hear themselves doing it anymore and think nothing at all of doing so. Normal people feel remorse or anxiety inside about it, knowing that it is wrong and potentially harmful. Others feel like George Costanza ("It isn't a lie ... if you believe it."). With DJT it is Costanza on steroids, likely combined with an inherent mental and/or character flaw, that makes more lies than truth come out on an ongoing basis. We all know that. Which makes the issue in some ways less about the liar and more about the rest of us, those who hear the lies and choose to disregard them and their impact. Who is worse: the willful liar or those who allow the lies to stand and go uncontested? It is yet another reason why I say that this presidential election is less about the candidates and more about the character of the nation. The winner will tell us more about who we are than who they are. We know who they are. But who are we?
2) I keep hearing about voters who are disenchanted about Joe Biden's position on Israel's war against Hamas and how it impacts Gaza, that he is not doing enough and not making a difference. So I keep asking, to no response: just what is he supposed to do about it?. It isn't his war. He can put forth a peace plan. He can engage in shuttle diplomacy and back channel negotiations, out of our sight. But in the end it is about the participants, not outside sources with no power of enforcement. They have to want peace more than we can impose it, and they have to be flexible enough to make a deal when no one else can drag them to it. Then there is that thorny question that also no one is answering: how would DJT handle the situation better?. Please ask during the debate(s). And press him for a specific plan in comparison. It matters.
3) True dat to the notion that too many people ruin special moments with their failure to separate politics and other personal opinions from the bigger picture of what is happening around us. I suppose that, in this social media and device-addiction era, we think everything is all about us first and that dignity and ceremony and decorum come in a distant second. Or some people are simply selfish jerks who think that no social rules apply to them. The feeling is kind of like seeing a friend or someone else whose judgment you've come to trust post one of those stupid, superficial memes about a topic that makes them look prejudiced or unthinking or inherently ignorant, and feeling profoundly disappointed that they are not the person you thought they were, and that you can't unsee or unremember it. Yet again technology and social media are more of a curse than a blessing.
"Yet again technology and social media are more of a curse than a blessing."
I agree. It saddens me to think that people (some in my family) might actually believe others have the slightest interest in seeing their constant self-serving and self- promoting posts. Look at me! Look at my car, my boat, where I vacation, who I saw, how beautiful I am, my perfect marriage, and on and on. Good for them. I'm happy for their success. It isn't envy on my part. I have a good life. I just don't understand the bragging. It was once considered ill mannered to brag on one's self. Social media sites are nothing more than venues to endlessly boast. I don't read the posts anymore, but based on what I've seen, it's a huge waste of time. Theirs and mine.
Re your first point about the election outcome reflecting the nation's character: I have little doubt Joe will once again win the popular vote by a wide margin, the majority of us will reject Trump, so if Trump wins it will be due to the EC. But regardless of the outcome the fact that such a large and substantial minority of the citizenry has fallen under the spell of fascist Trumpism reveals a tragic failure has taken place at the nation's moral core, else this election would not even be close.
I agree. Its not only Fox News propaganda machine, these people are responding to it because that's who they really want to be. They are contentious and fascist. They yearn for some magical past when when white men ran everything and everyone else kept their mouths shut.
1. I'm glad you are confident Biden will win in '24. I'm not. I think he can and I'm doing everything I can to support his win. What are the reasons behind your confidence?
2. FYI, Biden won the popular vote in 2020 by 4.4 points. Is that what you mean by a wide margin? If the margin is any smaller than 3 points, he'll lose the EC. HRC's was only 2.1 pts.
George Santos and Donald Trump are similar in their pathological lying: They just make up stuff, even when they don't have to. Fareed Zacharia called it in 2016: Trump's a bullshitter. They no longer make a distinction between truth and falsehood. They lie when they don't have to because they get an innate satisfaction from making reality whatever they say it is. It affirms their power over other people.
That is a power move in my experience. One museum I worked at has regulations to follow when curators removed objects from the building. One curator loved to circumvent the rules, but I always caught him. I asked him once why he did it as it took a lot of effort and time and destroyed respect and trust. He said he didn’t like the rules. I replied, fine, but all you are doing is cementing your reputation as a jerk and creating proof that the rules are necessary. He was also a total asshole; called me by my first name but insisted I use his title. I did not; he had to accept it. There are way too many people who cannot get out of their own way.
His most ardent supporters, about a third of the nation, have authoritarian personality disorder: strict adherence to highly simplified conventional values, an attitude of great deference to authority figures while demanding subservience from those regarded as lower in status, and hostility toward people who deviate from conventional moral prescriptions (https://dictionary.apa.org/authoritarian-personality).
I think the main objection to what Biden has done re Israel is the continued supply of war materiel. The young lefties I know or follow don’t like it. I have no idea if Biden has the power to stop the flow of weapons presumably already contracted for, and I imagine the relationship between the US arms suppliers, the president of either party, and Israel is complex. Happy to hear an explainer.
Those who object to the supply of arms to Israel need to take those objections to the real sponsors: Congress. They appropriate the funding and largely determine where it goes. All the president can do is tinker along the margins (I.e. slowing the one shipment Bibi is hollering about).
Good points. Which also is why it is more important then ever to ask DJT exactly where he stands on the issue and what, if anything, he would do differently. At least Biden has sent messages that there are limits to our support, trying to straddle the difficult line between both sides (and, evidently, pleasing nobody in the process). From what I've heard DJT has said he is all-in on arming Israel and giving them essentially immunity here from any questionable tactics. So, again, someone will have to tell me how and why that will be a better approach if the anti-Biden liberals sit out the election or otherwise fail to support Biden when, even if they have to hold their nose somewhat, he clearly is their better alternative.
What Trump says he will do, and putting that in front of him, is an important point for Biden to score in the debate. Then, when the campus anti-Israelis who oppose Biden say, "Don't make me vote for Trump", we've got a reasoned response to that. Extremists don't respond to reason but it will help the persaudables if some of their kids are anti-Israel.
All good points. But, again, compared to DJT's 100 percent pro-Israel approach, I'm finding it hard to believe that those wanting Biden to take a different approach are willing to gamble on DJT getting elected, knowing full well that they would get essentially zero of what they want in the end. It may be seen as a case of the lesser of two evils, but when one of them is pure evil, there's only one way to go.
Trump has said that Israel should take over Palestine completely. Pushing the Palestinians out. He also had a Muslim ban in the US. I've told this to Muslim Americans, but they either can't hear it or don't believe it. I'm tired of trying to explain things to people who refuse to understand.
There is something intriguing about lying and why people do it. Most times it is done strategically, to cover up an embarrassing or damaging experience. Occasionally it is done to protect someone else who is vulnerable (the "little white lie"). But then there are the serial lies, told by people who are so used to doing it that they don't hear themselves doing it anymore and think nothing at all of doing so. Normal people feel remorse or anxiety inside about it, knowing that it is wrong and potentially harmful. Others feel like George Costanza ("It isn't a lie ... if you believe it."). With DJT it is Costanza on steroids, likely combined with an inherent mental and/or character flaw, that makes more lies than truth come out on an ongoing basis. We all know that. Which makes the issue in some ways less about the liar and more about the rest of us, those who hear the lies and choose to disregard them and their impact. Who is worse: the willful liar or those who allow the lies to stand and go uncontested? It is yet another reason why I say that this presidential election is less about the candidates and more about the character of the nation. The winner will tell us more about who we are than who they are. We know who they are. But who are we?
2) I keep hearing about voters who are disenchanted about Joe Biden's position on Israel's war against Hamas and how it impacts Gaza, that he is not doing enough and not making a difference. So I keep asking, to no response: just what is he supposed to do about it?. It isn't his war. He can put forth a peace plan. He can engage in shuttle diplomacy and back channel negotiations, out of our sight. But in the end it is about the participants, not outside sources with no power of enforcement. They have to want peace more than we can impose it, and they have to be flexible enough to make a deal when no one else can drag them to it. Then there is that thorny question that also no one is answering: how would DJT handle the situation better?. Please ask during the debate(s). And press him for a specific plan in comparison. It matters.
3) True dat to the notion that too many people ruin special moments with their failure to separate politics and other personal opinions from the bigger picture of what is happening around us. I suppose that, in this social media and device-addiction era, we think everything is all about us first and that dignity and ceremony and decorum come in a distant second. Or some people are simply selfish jerks who think that no social rules apply to them. The feeling is kind of like seeing a friend or someone else whose judgment you've come to trust post one of those stupid, superficial memes about a topic that makes them look prejudiced or unthinking or inherently ignorant, and feeling profoundly disappointed that they are not the person you thought they were, and that you can't unsee or unremember it. Yet again technology and social media are more of a curse than a blessing.
"Yet again technology and social media are more of a curse than a blessing."
I agree. It saddens me to think that people (some in my family) might actually believe others have the slightest interest in seeing their constant self-serving and self- promoting posts. Look at me! Look at my car, my boat, where I vacation, who I saw, how beautiful I am, my perfect marriage, and on and on. Good for them. I'm happy for their success. It isn't envy on my part. I have a good life. I just don't understand the bragging. It was once considered ill mannered to brag on one's self. Social media sites are nothing more than venues to endlessly boast. I don't read the posts anymore, but based on what I've seen, it's a huge waste of time. Theirs and mine.
Modesty appears to be for suckers in this not so brave new world.
Re: Point 2)
Isn't "imposed peace" an oxymoron?
Re your first point about the election outcome reflecting the nation's character: I have little doubt Joe will once again win the popular vote by a wide margin, the majority of us will reject Trump, so if Trump wins it will be due to the EC. But regardless of the outcome the fact that such a large and substantial minority of the citizenry has fallen under the spell of fascist Trumpism reveals a tragic failure has taken place at the nation's moral core, else this election would not even be close.
I agree. Its not only Fox News propaganda machine, these people are responding to it because that's who they really want to be. They are contentious and fascist. They yearn for some magical past when when white men ran everything and everyone else kept their mouths shut.
2 questions:
1. I'm glad you are confident Biden will win in '24. I'm not. I think he can and I'm doing everything I can to support his win. What are the reasons behind your confidence?
2. FYI, Biden won the popular vote in 2020 by 4.4 points. Is that what you mean by a wide margin? If the margin is any smaller than 3 points, he'll lose the EC. HRC's was only 2.1 pts.
I meant he will win the popular vote. The EC is up for grabs.
Got it. I agree with that because Trump has never won it.
George Santos and Donald Trump are similar in their pathological lying: They just make up stuff, even when they don't have to. Fareed Zacharia called it in 2016: Trump's a bullshitter. They no longer make a distinction between truth and falsehood. They lie when they don't have to because they get an innate satisfaction from making reality whatever they say it is. It affirms their power over other people.
It's as if they lie when in many cases it's actually easier to tell the truth
That is a power move in my experience. One museum I worked at has regulations to follow when curators removed objects from the building. One curator loved to circumvent the rules, but I always caught him. I asked him once why he did it as it took a lot of effort and time and destroyed respect and trust. He said he didn’t like the rules. I replied, fine, but all you are doing is cementing your reputation as a jerk and creating proof that the rules are necessary. He was also a total asshole; called me by my first name but insisted I use his title. I did not; he had to accept it. There are way too many people who cannot get out of their own way.
Sounds like Oppositional Defiant Disorder (https://www.additudemag.com/oppositional-defiant-disorder-in-adults/).
Since Trump began campaigning for the presidency, I've come to see that a lot of Americans - a minority - have personality disorders. Trump himself exhibits all the behaviors of narcissistic personality disorder: severely overly-inflated feelings of self-worth, grandness, and superiority over others, exploiting others who fail to admire them, and overly sensitive to criticism, judgment, and defeat (https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/personality-disorders#:~:text=Antisocial%20personality%20disorder.,for%20their%20own%20personal%20gain).
His most ardent supporters, about a third of the nation, have authoritarian personality disorder: strict adherence to highly simplified conventional values, an attitude of great deference to authority figures while demanding subservience from those regarded as lower in status, and hostility toward people who deviate from conventional moral prescriptions (https://dictionary.apa.org/authoritarian-personality).
For those who want more on this, see forensic psychiatrist Bandy X. Lee on "The ‘Shared Psychosis’ of Donald Trump and His Loyalists" (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-shared-psychosis-of-donald-trump-and-his-loyalists/).
You are correct, but I prefer the short version - asshole.
I think the main objection to what Biden has done re Israel is the continued supply of war materiel. The young lefties I know or follow don’t like it. I have no idea if Biden has the power to stop the flow of weapons presumably already contracted for, and I imagine the relationship between the US arms suppliers, the president of either party, and Israel is complex. Happy to hear an explainer.
Those who object to the supply of arms to Israel need to take those objections to the real sponsors: Congress. They appropriate the funding and largely determine where it goes. All the president can do is tinker along the margins (I.e. slowing the one shipment Bibi is hollering about).
Presumably he hasn’t hypnotized Bibi into being a reasonable and honest man, so shame on Biden.
Good points. Which also is why it is more important then ever to ask DJT exactly where he stands on the issue and what, if anything, he would do differently. At least Biden has sent messages that there are limits to our support, trying to straddle the difficult line between both sides (and, evidently, pleasing nobody in the process). From what I've heard DJT has said he is all-in on arming Israel and giving them essentially immunity here from any questionable tactics. So, again, someone will have to tell me how and why that will be a better approach if the anti-Biden liberals sit out the election or otherwise fail to support Biden when, even if they have to hold their nose somewhat, he clearly is their better alternative.
What Trump says he will do, and putting that in front of him, is an important point for Biden to score in the debate. Then, when the campus anti-Israelis who oppose Biden say, "Don't make me vote for Trump", we've got a reasoned response to that. Extremists don't respond to reason but it will help the persaudables if some of their kids are anti-Israel.
This is so good.
I don't AT ALL understand why Schumer agreed to that invitation.
All good points. But, again, compared to DJT's 100 percent pro-Israel approach, I'm finding it hard to believe that those wanting Biden to take a different approach are willing to gamble on DJT getting elected, knowing full well that they would get essentially zero of what they want in the end. It may be seen as a case of the lesser of two evils, but when one of them is pure evil, there's only one way to go.
Trump has said that Israel should take over Palestine completely. Pushing the Palestinians out. He also had a Muslim ban in the US. I've told this to Muslim Americans, but they either can't hear it or don't believe it. I'm tired of trying to explain things to people who refuse to understand.
"Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right..."
Yes!!!